What is the Hyperloop, did Virgin invest in Elon Musk’s transport system, is it coming to the UK and what does it look like?

ELON Musk's outlandish dream of a revolutionary transport system is slowly coming to pass.

The futuristic Hyperloop concept he created in 2013 has been successfully tested and recieved massive investment from Virgin's Richard Branson. But what is the Hyperloop?

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It's estimated that the Hyperloop will transfer 164,000 passengers daily

What is the Hyperloop?

When proposing the idea, Musk described the transport system as “a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table”.

The hyperloop would enable passengers to travel in pods which levitate inside massive tubes.

The tubes are surrounded by a cushion of air which drastically reduces friction.

The friction-less pods are able to safely travel at immensely high speeds – similar to how a puck glides in a game of air hockey.

The pods will be propelled either by magnets (a system called passive magnetic levitation) or air expelled from the vessels themselves, and the tubes would be suspended off the ground to protect against weather conditions and earthquakes.

Richard Branson and Virgin invested in Hyperloop One, which is now going to be renamed "Virgin Hyperloop One".

Virgin Hyperloop One, previously known as Hyperloop Technologies, completed the first public test of the propulsion system in May 2016.

Bosses from Transport for the North have said they “remain open” to bringing the Hyperloop to Britain, with the region aiming to spruce up transport links between its cities and create a ‘northern powerhouse’.

The Hyperloop could complete the 163-mile journey from Manchester to London in just 18 minutes.

Alan James, the head of Hyperloop One, says the system would be a cheaper and faster way to link the north of England to the capital than the controversial and expensive High Speed 2 rail network.

“With High Speed Rail, we could reduce the journey time from London to Stoke from one hour 24 minutes to around one hour,” he said.